Keeping homes cool costs homeowners millions of dollars every year. Air conditioning takes a lot of energy, as do ceiling fans and ice makers. Just think of all of the devices that play some role in making the average temperature of your home cooler! Many techniques, including shading your windows with awnings and avoiding the use of your oven during the summer, can help cool down your house. One very effective way of making your home less hot, however, lies on top: your roof. If your roof is made up of dark asphalt shingles, you could be beckoning the sun’s hot rays like an irresistible Greek nymph. To keep your energy bills low and your brow sweat-free, your roof should act more like the guard dog Cerberus, menacing any sunshine that comes its ways. Cool roofs are all the rage, and we’ll tell you how you can make your roof repel heat like no one’s business.
Paint to Reflect the Sun
We’ve all experienced what happens when we wear black clothing out in the hot sun: It makes you even hotter! Black clothing and roofs, too, absorb heat. If you have a dark-colored roof, you could be increasing the latent temperature of your entire house. Painting shingles or other roofing materials a light color, from cream to white, or any color that reflects well and matches your house, can help lower the overall temperature. You can speak to roofing specialists in Roswell to make sure you get roof-specific paints. Be sure to also check with your roofer to ensure that painting your roof doesn’t void your roof’s warranty.
Get a Cool Roof with Bitumen
Did you know that the roofing materials you use can determine how much heat is absorbed as well? Modified bitumen roofing is a type of “cool roof” that people in hot areas choose over the traditional shingles and other materials. If your home is more often hot than not, or if you have very little shade around your house, this roof replacement can make a huge dent in your AC bills and the increasing frustration that comes with sweltering home temperatures. This type of roof can be added to homes that don’t have an overly-steep slope. To find out if your home’s roof is the right gradient and shape, get a personalized consultation.
Single-Ply Membrane
When you look into cool roofs, consider each material option. Besides bitumen, there are also single-ply membranes that go on the roof deck, with no other coatings required. This material is a type of pre-fabricated sheet that has reflective solar material on it. The reflective part is effective at forcing the sun’s rays away from your roof. This material can be combined with others and with painting techniques to get the optimal amount of sun-shunning action.
Replace Asphalt Shingles
If you have a roof with a steep slant, your options are more limited than if you had a flat or barely-sloped roof. One option that works for steep roofs is reflective shingles. Shingles that are coated with light, reflective granules work to make a cool roof. These shingles can be specially ordered and purchased at many home-improvement stores.
